A highlight of the 2000 Western Area Higher School Certificate Enrichment Seminars will be demonstrations of Australia's largest educational website, the NSW HSC On-Line.

This year more than 500 Year 12 students from isolated schools covering an area bound by Gunnedah, Bourke, Ivanhoe and Young will attend the Seminars on 8 and 9 June at the Dubbo RSL complex. Students will have access to over 40 subject specialists, including lecturers from Charles Sturt University, presenting over 100 seminar sessions.

The Western Area HSC Enrichment Seminars is an annual event hosted by the Dubbo School of Distance Education (DSODE). "The aim of the seminars is to give an intensive pre-exam boost to students in the bush," said HSC Enrichment Seminars Organising Committee spokesperson, Christine Bray.

"HSC Students studying by correspondence or attending isolated schools thrive on events like this being offered in their region".

The seminars on how to use the HSC On-Line are part of a collaborative effort between Charles Sturt University and the Organising Committee for the Western Area HSC Seminars to provide equity for HSC students in country NSW. The event will be officially opened by Dr Peter Hodgson, Charles Sturt University Pro-Vice Chancellor (Public Affairs) and Head, Dubbo campus, in the Orana Cinema at 9:15am on 8 June.

The NSW HSC On-Line site, first launched by Minister for Education, John Aquilina, in 1998, is a teaching and learning resource that is the first of its kind in the world. Available to anyone with Internet access, the site is a Year 12 study tool that includes everything from learning to gather material from around the globe on the Internet to writing essays and researching material for exams.

Subject specialists from the NSW Department of Education and Training and CSU staff, supply content for a broad range of subjects. The University provides ongoing technical expertise and support to the site and runs the site off the CSU server.